In yesterday’s post I discussed the Maccabean revolt, and in today’s I need to summarize our principal sources of information about the revolt, the books of 1 and 2 Maccabees. My reason for doing so has to do with my topic of the afterlife. It is in 2 Maccabees that we find a very different view from what can be seen in the Hebrew Bible itself, as I will show in a subsequent post, a view that became popular later among the early Christians.

These two books are not in the Hebrew Bible, and as a result are not accepted as canonical by Jews or Protestants. They are, however, found in the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible called the Septuagint, and are accepted as “Deutero-canonical” by both the Roman Orthodox and the Eastern Orthodox traditions. Protestants consider them to be among the “Apocrypha.”

Like the other Deutero-canonical books, they are Jewish writings that date from the period after the Hebrew Bible. Here is the brief introduction I give to them in my textbook, The Bible: A Historical and Literary Introduction.

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1 Maccabees

With the book of 1 Maccabees we move from the genres of fiction and wisdom to the genre of history. This is a historical narrative that details the events that led up to the Maccabean Revolt (chs. 1-2) and that transpired during the years of rebellion, for three generations of the family that led the uprising. It is our principal source of knowledge about the period, and so is of particular interest to historians of this crucial time in ancient Israel. It was originally written in Hebrew.

I have already …

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So there is no mention of hell or heaven i.e. afterlife in Hebrew Bible that dates before 200 BC? Nothing from sayings of Moses or earlier prophets? Why would a believer in God then take prosecution or even obey God if there are no consequences? If there was no reward or punishment, what motivation does a believer have to follow the prophet?

From Qur’an we know there have been disputes among the people of book about afterlife that’s why the incident of seven sleepers of cave took place so that God proves to people that He can resurrect from the dead and interestingly in Qur’an right after mentioning that story, God speaks about heaven and hell.

So what are earlier prophets reported to say worship One God and if you don’t then what will happen? You go to Sheol and if you don’t you still go to Sheol?

Bart- are you using the term “resurrection” broadly in this post, not just bodily resurrection? Hope you trace where the idea of bodily resurrection came from, versus a spiritual afterlife. Because you could be judged (and sentenced) either way, but “resurrection of the body” seems relatively unique among traditions.

Aside from a belief in an afterlife with vindication for the just and faithful, there don’t seem to any other elements of the apocalyptic genre or perspective in the Maccabean corpus. Contrast this with the roughly contemporaneous book of Daniel. Thus, I am still reluctant to consider Phariseeic belief in the resurrection as necessarily betraying an apocalyptic character for them. I imagine some certainly were apocalyptic but doubt that all were necessarily so.

Not really. There’s nothing in 2 Macc 6-7 like Daniel’s scheme of world empires, wild visions in need of interpretation, Satan or demonic powers, or any belief in or prediction of an imminent end of the world. There is merely, as I noted above, belief in resurrection with vindication for the just and faithful as well as eventual punishment by God of the oporessive rulers and their descendents. Even the eventual punishment of those oppressing the Jews does not seem to be characterized as some type of eternal punishment in hell. The Maccabean corpus seems rather to largely reflect a literature written by those who now enjoy some measure of temporal power and autonomy in league with the Romans and other nations.

Much like the Irish Catholics who refused to ‘drink the soup’–ie, accept food when they were starving, that was offered on the condition they become Protestants.

It’s important to recognize that not all of this resistance comes from specific religious beliefs themselves, but from people with a strong collective identity feeling a natural resistance to being told what to do, and how to believe. Behold what’s happening now, in parts of the middle east, with various religious groups, including sects of Islam, refusing to give up their ways, even under the threat of death and torture.

And atheists did their share of this kind of thing, in the communist nations. Let’s not be forgetting that. And that they lost in the end. (And that people who have resisted this type of oppression can also end up perpetrating it, as some of the Orthodox are doing under Putin, who is about as religious as Trump, but hum a few bars….).

There is no greater evil in this world than telling other people how to believe. There is no more unforgivable sin. It doesn’t matter what system you’re pushing. When you use compulsion, you are admitting you yourself do not believe.

How about using starvation to try and make somebody say “Your religion is better, I give up”?

Leaving aside the fact that it tends to harden people’s beliefs, not change them.

Birth defects are down to Mother Nature, take it up with Her. We wouldn’t even exist if genes weren’t malleable. For every useful mutation, there are endless bad ones. And yet look at how diverse and beautiful Life on this planet is–and sometimes it seems all you want to see is what doesn’t work.

No greater evil than perfectionism. The desire to make everything agree with everything else, which ties in to trying to make other people believe as you do.

Suicide is a choice–like despair. Oh, here’s a quote for you–one of my favorite writers–

“Once you’ve handed the reins over to despair, to mix a metaphor just a teeny bit, your job is done. You don’t have to sweat it any more, you’ve taken yourself out of the game. Despair is the bench, and you are warming it.”

Oh, that bit about the “soup” brings back memories! Of having heard, as a child, someone (probably Dad’s mother) snottily saying someone else (meaning, really, their ancestors) “took the soup” – just because they were Protestants who had a seemingly Irish name. I did understand what the “soup” reference meant, though I don’t remember who explained it to me.

It isn’t necessarily true–some converted willingly, and of course many Protestants came to Ireland, for many reasons, and are as Irish as anyone else now. So are the Jews and Buddhists and Hindus living there. Many of the most loyal Irish patriots were Protestants. National and religious loyalty are two different things, and ought to be.

Awhile back, I was surprised to learn from you how the concept of heaven, as most of us imagine it and have hoped for it, was pretty much absent from the Old Testament and seemed to be not that prominent in the ancient Jewish faith. So, when and how our current concept of heaven arose and what evidence was used to support this concept really does seem crucial and highly important. So, please keep going with this thread.

There are many things I like about your textbook The Bible. One of them is the coverage you give to the Apocrypha (Deutero-Canonical books). Far too often these writings are not included in Old Testament courses or texts, and this is unfortunate, since they can be a useful source. Thanks for including them.

Hi Bart, just wondering if you could provide your thoughts on this (a bit off topic):
– Matthew used the Septuagint as a source, and used large portions of Mark.
– Mark has Jesus riding on one donkey, Matthew has Jesus riding on two donkeys.

I’m wondering why Matthew seemed to ignore Mark on the number of donkeys, but copied Mark in many other locations.

I had a look at Brenton’s 1879 English version of the Septuagint, and it does indeed indicate two donkeys in the original ‘prophecy’: “he is meek and riding on an ass, and a young foal.” (Zech 9:9). So it appears the Septuagint mistranslated the original Hebrew of only one donkey.

I used to think it was Matthew that misinterpreted the Hebrew bible, but now I’m thinking he just copied what he saw in the Septuagint, intentionally ignoring what Mark wrote (perhaps he thought Mark got it wrong?). Am I on the right track? Any thoughts on this one?

Matthew frequently changes the accounts he received from Mark — whenever he thinks he has a better story/idea. This just happens to be one of those many places. He saw Jesus as *literally* fulfilling what he thought of as a precise prophecy. His mistake….

Off topic but want to say a good word for Deism. Reconciled God and science, aspired to a universal religion, focused on ethics as the heart of religion, explained why prayers aren’t answered, eliminated “magical” practices, and, perhaps without good reasons, held on to a belief in an afterlife. Unfortunately, a non-starter due to the problem of terrible suffering. Only remedy might be a God who, with human help, makes all things right in the end. Basic problem is God as all-powerful creator. Need a God who is a very but not all powerful force for good, with human help, in a reality that just “is the way it is” that s/he exists in but did not create. Sort of how we might see ourselves as human beings but on a much grander scale. (How did I start with Deism and wind up with process theology?)

Readers of this blog may find an online article about the Canaanites of interest. It is the first article in the most recent issue of “The American Journal of Human Genetics.” The title of the article is too long for me to type, but it contains the word Canaanites. The authors report taking DNA from five Canaanite fossils and conclude that the Canaanites were not completely wiped out by the Israelites as the Bible contends, but left a long line of descendants.

How contingent history is! What if Alexander had lived, say twenty more years and had a chance to consolidate his empire? Would it have fragmented so at his death? Would a consolidated, Hellenized world empire have prevented Roman domination? On and on…

An unrelated question. In your opinion what is the most likely dating for the Epistle to the Hebrews?

You wrote:
These two books are not in the Hebrew Bible, and as a result are not accepted as canonical by Jews or Protestants. They are, however, found in the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible called the Septuagint, and are accepted as “Deutero-canonical” by both the Roman Orthodox and the Eastern Orthodox traditions. Protestants consider them to be among the “Apocrypha.”

Perhaps in a future thread you might explain why these books were NOT incorporated into the Hebrew Bible. Several verses that supposedly support that position include:1 Maccabees 4:45b-46;1 Maccabees 9:27, and 1 Maccabees 14:41. Of course, there maybe additional factors. Do you have an opinion?

Like lots of other books, they simply were not regarded as scriptural authorities by Jews living in Palestine; they were important and interesting historical books. I’m not sure what you mean by “that position”. Sorry!

Reading your blog makes me wonder about the concept evolution of Resurrection and whether according to Jung, the concept spawned universally and collectively in consciousness? (The concept of Resurrection evolved among Maya according to the “Maya Bible” the Popul Vuh a much later document with more ancient roots and embedded in the famous Pakal tomb at Palenque.) I eagerly await its publication!

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